Page 20 - Green Builder March-April 2016 Issue

A Permaculture Approach

Mimicking natural ecosystems
can help create low-
maintenance landscapes that
achieve several goals at once.

T HE SWAFFORD PROJECT is a good example of
permaculture design principles in action.
“We really tried to ‘stack’ functions, so features
perform more than one task,” says Erin Muir, principal
at The Figure Ground Studio.
Permaculture is the practice of emulating natural ecosystems by
closely observing them. Permaculture-inspired designs are naturally
self-sustaining. They don’t require outside inputs of fertilizers,
pesticides, or even supplemental irrigation. Nothing is wasted; in
fact, waste is seen as a resource.

Here are some of the permaculture principles implemented in
the Swafford project, which can be easily incorporated into any
landscaping project:

CREDIT: JUSTIN JAMES MUIR
CREDIT: JEANETTE SWAFFORD
In the Zone. The terraced gardens, created by layered stone walls,
Creating Niches. A diversity of plants creates structure, texture and can be used to grow vegetables and herbs close to the kitchen
color to the landscape. It also provides more opportunities for door. Muir grouped planting with similar watering needs together.
beneficial insects, birds and other wildlife.
Stacking functions. This principle recognizes that natural features
in a landscape rarely do just one thing. For example, the stonework
planters in the Swafford landscape serve as containers for plants, but
the terraces also interrupt and slow stormwater flows. Stonemason
Pete Wilson also designed in places for people to sit. Similarly,
flowering plants help stabilize slopes, mitigate rainwater, produce
food for people, attract and feed native and naturalized pollinators
and other wildlife, and add beauty.

Zoning. If the home is the center of the design, zones are the
concentric circles that radiate outward from that center. This practical
principle recognizes an essential fact of human nature: We’re much
more likely to take care of something if it’s close by. Therefore,

18 GREEN BUILDER March/April 2016 www.greenbuildermedia.com